James believes it will lead to a number of freak goals during the finals.

"The ball is dreadful. It's horrible, but it's horrible for everyone," the Daily Express quoted James, as saying.

"There's no real way of coping, other than lots of shooting practice. One of Frank's free-kicks against Japan dipped wickedly, so it will be interesting. There's undoubtedly going to be some goals scored in this tournament which, in previous tournaments with different balls, wouldn't have been scored," he added.

"It will allow some people to score extra goals but leave some goalkeepers looking daft. We've been doing shooting practice every day and I have been standing behind the goals watching the ball, so at least we'll be prepared," he said.